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Performance Practice Review
Volume 7
Number 1 Spring
Article 2
The Expressive Pause: Punctuation, Rests, and
Breathing in England, 1770-1850
Robert Toft
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Toft, Robert (1994) "The Expressive Pause: Punctuation, Rests, and Breathing in England, 1770-1850," Performance Practice Review:
Vol. 7: No. 1, Article 2. DOI: 10.5642/perfpr.199407.01.02
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Singing and Oratory
The Expressive Pause: Punctuation, Rests, and
Breathing in England, 1770-1850
Robert Toft
Authors of treatises on singing published in England between the late 18th
and the middle of the 19th centuries view singing and speaking as arts which
are related closely. In fact, several writers declare that singing should be
based directly on speaking and that singers should use the orator as a model.
One of these authors, Anselm Bayly (1719-94), a clergyman at the Chapel
Royal who sang under Maurice Greene, discusses recitative and makes the
connection between the two arts explicit:
[Recitative] is an expressive and elegant manner of speaking . . . let [the singers] ask themselves how an orator would pronounce [the words in recitatives],
preserving the grammatical connection, touching lightly, without any appoggiatura, short syllables and unimportant words, and giving a due, but not fierce,
energy to the emphatic.
1
Anselm Bayly, A Practical Treatise on Singing and Playing with Just Expression and
Real Elegance (London, 1771), vol. 3, p. 60. Similar views were espoused in both Germany
and Italy in die 18th century. Johann Adam Hitler, in Anweisung zum musikalisch-ziertichen
Gesange (Leipzig, 1780; facs. ed., Leipzig: Edition Peters, 1976), 25-26, instructs singers to
include the art of reading aloud, that is, the art of declamation, in their training. Because this
skill helps singers prepare texts for performance, Hiller advises students to leam die proper
2
Robert Toft
In the 19th century, Richard Bacon, William Gardiner, Isaac Nathan, Maria
Anfossi, and Manuel Garcfa, in addition to demonstrating that speaking and
singing remained closely affiliated until at least the middle of the century,
provide further details of the ways in which the two arts are related. For
Richard Bacon (1776-1844), a student of Samuel Arnold:
the effects of reading or declamation are produced by the quality of tone, by
inflexion, by emphasis, and by total cessations or pauses. Singing seems only to
heighten these effects by using in a bolder manner the same agents. The principles
of bom arc the same. . . The student [of singing) ought first to consider the
appropriate delivery of die words before he tries them in combination with the air.
Having thus determined how the words ought to be read [spoken aloud], he will
proceed in the adaptation of them to melody.
Later in his treatise, Bacon makes it clear that his comments app!y to both
recitative and air (but in differing degrees):
The principles [of expression] 1 have thus endeavoured to elucidate in recitative,
are all capable of being applied to air, but in a degree limited by the nature of such
compositions, by the time and by die melody, which is more continuous, more
connected, and more strictly vocal than recitative. The elocution must therefore be
more uniform, and the transitions, if not less marked, yet not so sudden.3
declamation of the words (speaking them in the same way that an orator would) before they
learn to sing them. He coined the phrase "gut gesprochen, ist halb gesungen" (well spoken is
half sung) to characterize the close relationship between speaking and singing. Ciambattista
Mancini, in Riflessioni Pratiche sul Canto Figurato (Milan, 1777, facs. ed., Bologna: Formi
Editore, 1970), 220—trans. Edward Foreman as Practical Reflections on Figured Singing by
Giambattista Mancini (Champaign: Pro Musica Press, 1967), 65—counsels singers who wish
to recite well in the theater to "listen to the discourse of a good orator, and hear what pauses,
what variety of voice, what diverse strength he adopts to express his ideas; now he raises the
voice, now drops it, now he quickens the voice, now harshens, now makes it sweet, according
to the diverse passions which he intends to arouse in the listeners" ("Attenti pure al discorso
d'un buon Oratore, e sentirete quante pose, quante varieta di voci, quante diverse force adopra
per esprimere i suoi sensi; ora innalza la voce, or l'abbassa, or l'affretta, or 1'incrudisce, ed or
la fa dolce, secondo le diversi passioni, che intende muovere neiruditore.").
^Richard Bacon, Elements of Vocal Science (London, 1824); ed. Edward Foreman
(Champaign: Pro Musica Press, 1966), 73,78.
3
Ibid., 83.
The Expressive Pause in England, 1770-1850 3
William Gardiner (1770-1853), a hosiery manufacturer who not only composed and edited music but also wrote a treatise on music observes that in
singing the elements which comprise music and language should be blended
together:
To sing with taste and expression, many qualifications arc required:—first, as
.• music, voice, ear and execution; secondly, as languate, enunciation, mind, and
action. These, when combined with a just feeling, constitute the highest point of
vocal excellence... to blend the singing and speaking voice together—to unite
them artificially in song—is a great achievement.
Like earlier writers, Isaac Nathan (1790-1864), a student of Domenico Corn
and composer of comic operas, views oratory and singing as subjects which
share many of the same characteristics:
We may account oratory, the twin-sister of music:—in both, expression holds the
same inalienable sway . . . In oratory the requitition of accurate pronunciation,
management of the voice, and appropriate gesture were particulars, which
completely identified this subject [oratory] with that now under discussion
[singing]. Hence, considering oratory as a science congener to music, as far as
expression goes, we shall apply the one to the other.5
Maria Anfossi's treatise on singing echoes the sentiments of Richard Bacon:
After [the pupil] has learned the tune, he must read the words, taking care to
pronounce them distinctly, and with proper accent; then he should declaim them
[that is, read them aloud], that he may know what sort of expression he is to give
the song."
And Manuel Garcfa, one of the most important teachers of singing in later
19th-century England, also taught his students to model their style of singing
on speech:
William Gardiner, The Music of Nature (London, 1832), 57.
5
lsaac Nathan, Musurgia Vocalis (London, 1836), 223-24.
"Maria Anfossi, Trattalo teorico-pratico sull'arte del canto . . . A Theoretical and
Practical Treatise on the Art of Singing (London, [1840]), 66. Anfossi's treatise has quite an
impressive list of subscribers: John Braham, one of the most famous English singers of the
early 19th century; the singing teachers Crivellt and Lanza; the composers Bishop,
Meyerbeer, and Rossini; the pianist Moscheles; and the double bassist Dragonetti.
4
Robert Toft
A pupil, in order to discover the tone [of voice] suitable to each sentiment, should
attentively study the words of his part, make himself acquainted with every
particular relating to die personage that he is to represent, and recite [that is, speak]
his role as naturally as if giving utterance to his own feelings.'
Singers, we learn from these writers, recited their roles before singing them
and transferred the details of spoken recitation to singing. Moreover, they
were vitally affected by the emotions they were to communicate and
projected these emotions through the voice. Maria Anfossi captures the
essence of the approach. Singing, Anfossi proclaims, is the combination of
poetry and declamation (speaking) with music. The object is to awaken the
affections, to inspire sentiments of admiration, or to arouse the imatinatton.
Anfossi continues by comparing the styles of singing to those of rhetorical
speaking and notes in relation to the grand style of singing that it
inspires admiration by the inestible power with which it seizes on the soul. The
hearer is carried away by that grand and majestic tone, by that force and vehemence
g
which are the essential characteristics of that style.
The "irresistible power" to which Anfossi refers was created by varying
emphasis, accent, tone of voice, rests, pauses, breathing, gesture, and so on
to match the changing sentiments of the text. These principles formed the
basis of both spoken and sung discourse, and one of the most potent tools
speakers and singers had at their disposal for moving the passions of
listeners was the pronunciation of grammatical and rhetorical pauses.9
'Manuei Garcia, Garcia's New Treatise on the Art of Singing (London, 1857), vol. 2,
p. 64. Garcia first published his treatise in Paris as Traite cotnplet de I'Art du Chant (part one
in 1841 and part two in 1847). It appeared in a condensed version as Nouveau Traite'
sommaire de I'Art du Chant (Paris, 1856), which was translated as Garcia's New Treatise
(London, 1857). Garcfa's pupils included Charles Bataille, Erminia Frezzolini, Jenny lind,
Mathilde Marches!, Hans Hermann Nissen, Charles Santley, and Julius Stockhausen.
° Anfossi, Trattato, 7. The grand style is one of the three manners of singing which
Anfossi equates to the orator's styles of speaking. The other two styles are the simple and the
ornamental. The ornamental style, as its name suggests, abounds in passages of execution,
whereas the simple style, even though its charms do "not dazzle, or cause astonishment,11 the
genuine and chaste beauty of these charms invest it with a grace that is "enhanced by that
unpresuming and peculiar manner, which never fails to captivate the heart" (Trattato, 7).
9
Gilbert Austin, in Chironomia; or a Treatise on Rhetorical Delivery (London, 1806),
52, differentiates between the grammatical and the rhetorical pause: "rhetorical pauses [as
distinct from the "ordinary pauses which are marked in writing"]. . . [are] to be adjusted by
correct judgment and feeling. They are placed either before or after important matter, in
The Expressive Pause in England, 1770-1850 5
Stops, or points as they also were called, helped illustrate the sensse of a
text, and their insertion in spoken and sung discourse was of such
fundamental importance to eloquent delivery that treatises on both speaking
and singing discuss the matter in considerable detail. In fact, throughout the
period under consideration, these discussions are remarkably similar to noe
another, for the practices associated with punctuation, rests, and breathing
remained relatively stable even though the style of music to which the
expressive pause was applied changed dramatically.
The two ways in which orators and singers articulated the structure of their
sentences were the observance of notated punctuation (the grammatical
pause) and the application of pauses in places where, although a stop was
not indicated, the sense of a sentence called for one (the rhetorical pause).
Accurate pronunciation was considered vital to effective delivery, and
writers regularly refer to the important role that pauses play in speaking and
singing. John Walker believes that the art of speaking well is based upon
acquiring a knoledge of the rests and pauses that are necessary to "clear and
enforce the sense," 10 and Anselm Bayly insists that in speaking and singing,
a "just observation of stops" establishes the sense of a text, but an improper
use of stops obscures the meaning.11 These views are echoed again and
again by later writers, Gilbert Austin going so far as to declare that pausing
between the members of a sentence, or in any other place which will admit a
momentary suspension of the voice, is that "beautiful point of art [in which]
the singers of Italy excel all others."12 Proper pronunciation of stops, then,
organized and paced the delivery of ideas and emotions and allowed orators
and singers to speak or sing elegantly. Eloquent discourse moved listeners,
and because speakers and singers in the 18th and 19th centuries were
expected to imitate real life,13 their style of articulation was modelled on the
order to introduce or leave it impressed on the memory with stronger effect. By suspending
the sense in an unusual manner and in an unexpected place, they arrest the attention."
10
John Walker, A Rhetorical Grammar, or Course of Lessons in Elocution (London,
1785; facs. ed., Hildesheim: Georg 01ms, 1969), 40.
11
Bayly, Practical Treatise, vol. 2, p. 6.
12
Austin, Chironomia, 51-52. See also, for example, the grammarian William
Cockin's The Art of Delivering Written Language (London, 1775; facs. ed., Menston: Scolar
Press, 1969), 99, and the writers on singing discussed below.
"Michael Maittaire, The English Grammar (London, 1712; facs. ed. Menston: Scolar
Press, 1967), 240; Ann Fisher, A New Grammar (Newcastle, 1750; facs. ed., Menston: Scolar
Press, 1968), 141; John Wesley, Directions Concerning Pronunciation and Gesture (Bristol,
1770), 5; Bayly, Practical Treatise, vol. 2, p. 15; John Herries, The Elements of Speech
6 Robert Toft
speech of someone in the appropriate state of mind. The expressive pause
was, in short, one of the many techniques upon which orators and singers
drew when feigning the emotions of the characters they were representing.
In writing, notated punctuation consisted of a number of different symbols
and included the following elements:14 comma [,], semicolon [;], colon [:],
period [.], interrogation [?], exclamation [!], and parenthesis [()]. The
comma, the shortest stop in reading, was pronounced with a little pause
while the speaker counted to one (about the time of a quaver). 15 It signified
that the sentence was unfinished and momentarily suspended the sense in
such a way that it gave the expectation that much more was to follow. The
semicolon required a pause long enough for the speaker to cound to two
(about the time of a crotchet)16 and was used when the foregoing member of
the period was perfect in sense, but the following member was so dependent
on the previous one that the latter made no sense without the former. In
pronouncing a colon, the speaker counted to three (about the time of a
minim),17 and like the semicolon, the colon was used when the foregoing
member was perfect in sense. However, with the colon the following
member did not so immediately depend upon the former, for the colon
divided the sentence into halves or distinguished it into several limbs,
clauses, or lesser sentences. In fact, both the semicolon and the colon
implied that the thought of the sentence was finished only partially. The
(London, 1773; facs. ed., Menston: Scolar Press, 1968), 154; Cockin, Art of Delivering, 141;
Thomas Sheridan, A Rhetorical Grammar of the English Language (Dublin, 1781; facs. ed.,
Menston: Scolar Press, 1969), 177; John Walder, Elements of Elocution, 2 vols. (London,
1781; facs. ed., Menston: Scolar Press, 1969), vol. 2, pp. 273-76; James Burgh, The Art of
Speaking (London, 1782), 39; Bacon, Elements, 74-75; Nathan, Musurgia, 198; and Garcia,
New Treatise, vol. 2, p. 64.
14
The list and succeeding definitions were derived from James Greenwood, An Essay
towards a Practical English Grammar (London, 1711; facs. ed., Menston: Scolar Press,
1968); Maittaire, English Grammar, John Mason, An Essay on Elocution and Pronunciation
(london, 1748; facs. ed., Menston: Scolar Press, 1968); Fisher, New Grammar, James Gough,
A Practical Grammar of the English Tongue (Dublin, 1754; facs. ed., Menston: Scolar Press,
1967); Bayly, Practical Treatise; Herries, Elements; Cockin, Art of Delivering; Sheridan,
Rhetorical Grammar, Burgh, Art of Speaking; Joseph Robertson, An Essay on Punctuation
(London, 1785; facs. ed., Menston: Scolar Press, 1969); Walker, Rhetorical Grammar, and
Lindley Murray, English Grammar (York, 1795; facs. ed., Menston: Scolar Press, 1968).
15
Maittaire, English Grammar, 201.
16
Ibid.
"ibid.
The Expressive Pause in England, 1770-1850 7
period was used when the sense of the sentence was fully completed, and it
was marked by a pause long enough for the orator to count to four (about
the time of a semibreve).18 Such a pause composed the mind and enabled
the listener to reflect upon the entire sentence in order to gain a full comprehension of it.
Interrogation and exclamation were related to. the period, interrogation
denoting a question and exclamation being used when a sentence, to
paraphrase the words of John Walker, showed that the mind labored with
some strong and vehement passion. Exclamatory outbursts generally were
indicated by interjections such as O!, Oh!, Ah!, Alas!, and the like (the signs
of the figure) and were delivered with far greater energy than normally was
employed for expressing passion or emotion, that is, with greater force,
loudness, and vehemence.19 The pauses associated with both interrogations
and exclamations were indeterminate in length, some writers remarking that
the stop may be equivalent to a comma, semicolon, colon, or period, as the
sense of the sentence demands. 20 One writer, however, Joseph Robertson,
notes that in questions the stop should be longer than that of a period,
because "an answer is either returned or implied; and consequently a proper
interval of silence is necessary."21 Parentheses, on the other hand, enabled
writers to insert some other matter into a sentence which was independent
enough that its omission would not harm the sense of the rest of the
sentence. It was marked by a short stop at the beginning and the end, and
these pauses, especially when the words enclosed in parentheses were
spoken with a quieter and quicker voice, allowed listeners to perceive where
the main thought broke off and where it resumed.
Punctuation did more than simplyindicate the nature of the pause to be
employed, however, for it also suggested the cadence the voice was to have.
The general principle in reading a sentence or period, at least according to
Ann Fisher in 1750, was to raise the voice gently (in loudness) until one
I8
lbid.
'^Walker, Rhetorical Grammar, 93, 144. Singers probably raised their voices at
exclamations as well. Although the English treatises on singing which I cite in this study do
not specifically advocate this style of delivery, it was certainty the practice of at least one
teacher of singing in Germany, Johann Adam Hiller, who mentions that the proper delivery of
exclamations required both orators and singers to raise their voices (in loudness) and to
strengthen the lone (Anweisung, 26).
^ S e e Walker, Rhetorical Grammar, 37, and Murray, English Grammar, 170.
^'Robertson, Essay, 95.
8
Robert Toft
reached the middle and then to let it fall gradually to the end. 22 This falling
of the voice was known as cadence, and it generally took place at a full stop,
but William Cockin suggests that the other punctuation marks which, in his
view, often terminate complete sense (semicolon and colon) may also cany
a cadence. 23 The one exception to this principle occurred when sentences
closed with emphatic words (as often happens in questions), for emphasis
required the speaker to deliver those words with a stronger and fuller
sound. 24
The technique of delivering emphatic words and the fole of pauses were
inseparable, emphatic delivery being just one of the many reasons speakers
introduced rhetorical pauses at places where, even though a stop was not
indicatyed, the sense of a sentence called for one. Thomas Sheridan tells us
that written texts contain many commas, colons, and periods, but in order
for a speaker to communicate the sense of a sentence fully, additional pauses
are often necessary.25 For example, Sheridan insists that speakers pause to
clarify the sense of emphatic words:
unless a pause be made al the end of the last word belonging to the former
emphatic one, we shall not be able to know at all times, to which of the two
emphases the intermediate words are to be referred; and this must often breed
Oft
confusion in the sense/ 0
Another late 18th-century writer, John Walker, painstakingly catalogued the
range of options open to speakers/' His "Rules for pausing" extends to 17
pages, and Walker identifies manyplaces in which unwritten pauses need to
be insered. For instance, pauses are to be introduced after nominatives,
especially when the nominative consists of more than one word ("The great
and invicible Alexander [pause] wept for the fate of Darius."), and the
relative pronouns who and which normally admit a pause before them. Even
descriptive phrases which follow a substantive are to be preceded by a pause
22
Fisher, New Grammar, 142.
^Cockin, An of Delivering, 102-3.
24
Mason, Essay, 27; Burgh, Art of Speaking, 14; and Murray, English Grammar, 152-
54.
"Thomas Sheridan, A Course of Lectures on Elocution (London, 1762; facs. ed., New
York: Benjamin Blom, 1968), 80.
•"•Sheridan, Rhetorical Grammar, 104.
27
Walker, Rhetorical Grammar, 44-60.
The Expressive Pause in England, 1770-1850 9
("He was a man [pause] learned and polite." or "It is a book [pause]
exquisite in its kind.").
Undoubtedly, a good knowledge of both the grammatical and the rhetorical
pause was essential to aloquent spoken delivery. But it was equally
important to expressive singing, and one early 19th-century writer, William
Kitchiner, implored composers not to leave such an important matter
entierly to the discretion of singers and accompanists:
If Composers would first attend to the accurate punctuation of the Words,—and
then, over the several Stops—introduce Rests of defined value,—equivalent to die
Stops;—it would in a great degree prevent that playing at cross-purposes which
now so often occurs, to the great perplexity of bom die Singer and Accompanist. °
Kitchiner was, however, unsuccessful in reforming the practices of
composers, and the guiding principle of singers is, perhaps, best expressed
in Isaac Nathan's paraphrase of a passage from the English translation
(1767) of Francesco Algarotti's treatise on opera:
There are certain suspensions of the voice, certain short pauses, and a certain
insisting on one place more than another, that cannot be communicated [in the
score], which are therefore resigned to the singer's sagacity and discretion: for it is
in such minute refinements that chiefly consists the delicacy of expression, which
impresses the sense of the words, not only on die mind, but on the hearts of all who
hear them. 2 "
Many writers on singing in the late 18th and 19th centuries underscore the
importance of Algarotti's and Nathan's remarks and disclose the parallels
between spoken and sung pauses. These writers frequently discuss the role
of pausing in relation to phrasing and the places suitable for taking breath.
In fact, many teachers of singing from the period equate punctuation in
singing to the grammatical and rhetorical pauses of speaking. In his chapter
on phrasing, Manuel Garcia, for example, observes that good melodies, like
speeches, are divided by pauses [points of rest], which are regulated by the
length of the partial ideas which comprise the melody. Such rests may be
introduced, he asserts, even in places where they are not marked by the
28
Wtlliam Kitchiner, Observations on Vocal Music (London, 1821), 72-73.
"\ quote Nathan, Musurgia, 290, which paraphrases Francesco Algarotti, An Essay on
the Opera (London, 1767), S3. See also Sandra Rosenblunt's discussion of the rhetorical
pause as it pertains to Classic piano music in Performance Practices in Classic Piano Music
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988), 366-68.
10 Robert Toft
composer. They serve to emphasize the ideas much more clearly and fall
into two categories. Pauses which separate phrases and the members of
those phrases, because they are of a longer duration than those which
separate figures or other small groups of notes, receive a full breath. But the
small rests between figures admit only very short, rapid breaths. These
latter pauses Garcfa calls mezzt-sospiri, and as they are indicated rarely,
singers are left to insert them where required. Garcia illustrates his
principles with passages from Mozart's Don Giovanni (see Exs. 1-2). In the
first example, Garcfa expects singers to take full breaths at the end of each
four-bar phrase whether or not Mozart had marked them. In following
normal vocal practice of the period, the last note of each phrase is shortened
to allow for respiration, and the repetitions of the words "cerca menar" also
are punctuated by pauses. The half breaths Garcia indicates in the second
example subtly articulate the thoughts in the text and allow singers an
opportunity to refresh their breath in a vocal line which, if sung as notated,
offers only one breathing point at the comma in the middle. As with the full
breath, the time needed for respiration is taken from the note preceding the
pause. 30 Nevertheless, even though Garcia sanctions the normal practice of
separating the members in a phrase, he also informs singers that in specific
cases the effect of a phrase could be increased by suppressing the pause
between two members.31 He illustrates this procedure with a passage from
Donizetti's Anna Bolena that benefits greatly from unusual treatment (see
30
Garcia, New Treatise, vol. 2, p. 48. Luigi Lablache in A Complete Method of
Singing (London, cl840), 23, Gilbert Duprez in A Treatise on the Art of Singing (London,
1847), 7, and John Addison in Singing, Practically Treated in a Series of Instructions
(London, 1850), 31, concur with Garcia in their recommendation that for both full and half
breaths the last note of the phrase or member of a phrase should be shortened to allow time
for bream to be taken. See Rosenblum, Performance Practices, 158ff, and Robin Stowell,
Violin Technique and Performance Practice in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth
Centuries (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), 284-89, for discussions of the
ways in which figures and members of phrases were separated (articulated) in Classic piano
music and late 18th- and early 19th-century violin music. This approach to phrasing seems to
have persisted in singing until at least the end of the 19th century, for Alberto Randegger in
The Songs in Don Giovanni (London, 1898), vol. 2, p. 6, marks breams in "Batti barb" in the
same places that Garcia did. Please note that all of the music examples presented in this
article faithfully represent, among other things, the textual punctuation of the original
document.
31
Garcfa, New Treatise, vol. 2, p. 48.
The Expressive Pause in England, 1770-1850 11
Ex. 1. Full breaths [B]; Mozart, Don G/oranni (1787); Caicii.New Tremiit. vol. 2. p. 48
Eton Giovanni:
££
Rn-ehtian dal
vi-
no
cal-dala tes- ta
u- nagranfes-ia
fa pre-pa- rai
ccr- ca mc-nar
le-coancorquel-la
se tro-viin piazza
B
r mr r
^
qual-che ra-
gaz- za
le-coancor quel-la
cei- came- nai.
m
me- nar.
gai- za
r
PTP IT r
cer-ca me-nar.
cer- came- nar,
sen-za_alcun or-di-ne
la danza si-a.
B
me- nar.
While their heads are filled with wine, lay on a lavish celebration. If you find some girls in town,
bring ihem along if you can. Lelihe dances follow no pattern.
12 Robert Toft
Ex. 2. Half breaths [b]; Mozart, Don Giovanni (1787); Garcia.Wew Treatise, vol. 2, p. 48
Zerlina:
Bat-ti
J-'
bac-tio bel
B
Ma- zee- to
la
ma
Ma-zet-to
la
tua
po- ve- ra Zer-
j
i
qui co-mea-gnel- li-
na le lue
b
li-
na le cue
bone ad
as- pet-
tar
^
li-
na,
sta- ro
u.
na
s,a.
A
Beat me, dear Masctto,
beat your poor Zerlina.
I shall stand here like a lambkin
waiting for your blows.
The Expressive Pause in England, 1770-1850 13
Ex. 3). Garcia joins the two members together through a crescendo into the
expletive "ah" and heightens the intensity of the sentiment in a way that
would have been impossible to achieve had the normal approach to phrasing
been adopted. Observance of the rest would have robbed singers of the
opportunity to augment the emotional impact of the text in a dramatic way.
Ex. 3. Suppressing Ihe pause; Donizetti, Anna Bolena (1830); Garcia, New Treatise, vol. 2, p. 48
Anna:
Del mio pri-mi- ero a- mo-
re
ah
a- mo-
re
ah
non a-ves- si il
pet-
$
[The embers] of my first love [smoulder still]. Ah, had I not [opened] my heart [to another love].
In spite of this type of exceptional practice, Garcfa's description of
customary phrasing is strikingly similar to the explanations given by the
earlier writers Giusto Tenducci (1785), Giuseppe Aprile (1791), and Domenico Corri (1810). Corri states that
:
a Phrase in music is a short portion of an air, or other composition, consisting of
one or more notes, and forms, without interruption, a sense more or less complete,
and which is terminated by a decrease of the voice forming a cadence more of less
perfect... The observance of the musical Phrase is necessary to regulate the taking
[of] breath, and to make the sense and meaning of a composition understood. ^
In the same vein, Tenducci and Aprile observe that one should
rest or take breath between the Passages, and in proper Time; mat is to say, to take
it only when the Periods, or members of the Melody, are ended.
32Domenico Corri, The Singers Preceptor (London, 1810), 7.
statement is number thirteen in the set of rules ("Necessary Rules for Students
and Dilettanti of Vocal Music") which appears in both Giusto Tenducci's Instruction of Mr.
Tenducci, to his Scholars (London, cl785), 2, and Guiseppe Aprile's The Modem Italian
Method of Singing (London, [1791]), 2.
14
Robert Toft
Another teacher of singing from the 19th century, Mary Novello, increases
our understanding of the issues Garcia, Corri, Tenducci, and Aprile raise
about breathing in a particularly lucid way: 34
tn taking nil! breath before a musical phrase, the time necessary for inhalation
should be subtracted from the preceding note. In taking a half bream in the middle
of a sentence, the time of inhalation should be taken from the note which follows
respiration, unless the musical phrase require[s] this note to retain its full value of
duration [note that on the placement of half breaths Novello expresses the opposite
opinion to Gardfa, and Labtache, Duprez, and Addison cited in note 30].
Breath must never be taken in the middle of a word, and, if possible, not until a
poetical or musical phrase be terminated.
Full breath should be taken at the commencement of all passages; and a half breath
(when necessary), to complete a passage, or whenever a melody is interrupted by
rests. When bream is requisite in the middle of a passage, it should be taken before
a word of small importance, such as the, of, to, and, &c, because respiration
shortens the note succeeding it, and therefore should not occur before words of
much significance.
Breath should never be taken so as to divide an article from its substantive, nor this
latter from its adjective; neither may it be taken between a dissonant note and its
resolution on the succeeding tone.
•^In her discussion, Novello distinguishes between full and half breaths: "Full breath
consists of a complete inhalation taken before the commencement of singing, or after an
apparently entire expiration; half breath consists of an additional supply of air, taken by a
partial inspiration during the course of singing, so as to refresh the lungs and tonal strength,"
Voice and Vocal Art (London. 1856), 10.
•"Novello, Voice, II. On the relationship between the grammatical structure of
sentences and breathing in singing, John Godiard states "when it is necessary to breathe
before the sentance is concluded, not to do so between an adjective and the noun to which it
is prefixed, as "fair lady," nor between possessive pronoun and noun, as "my heart," nor
between artical and noun, as "the man," as these interruptions impede the current of the sense
and impair the effect," in Thoughts on Singing (Chesterfield, 1848), 44, and James Hamilton
comments, "we must not take breath between the syllables of a word, nor between words
which, from their intimate grammatical relation, cannot be separated without affecting their
meaning. But wherever stops may be inserted in speaking or reading, the breath may be
taken in singing," in Hamilton's Modern Instructions in Singing (London, 1853), 15.
The Expressive Pause in England, 1770-1850 15
Novello's discussion of the places in which pauses should be introduced
through the inhalation of breath resembles the elocutionists' discussion of
the grammatical and rhetorical pauses employed in speaking. She expects
breathing to reinforce the sense of sentences and advises singers to maintain
the grammatical integrity of the text. Obviously, speaking and singing relied
upon the same principles of articulation, and other teachers of singing,
particularly Gesualdo Lanza (1813) and Maria Anfossi (1840), broaden our
understanding of just how closely related the two arts actually were in this
regard. Lanza recommends that students of singing read the words of songs
attentively and mark in the melody the best places for taking breath. These
places, Lanza maintains,
must be after the comma, semicolon, colon, or period, or in other words, where the
sense permits it. [But] when the melody is too long the mark for taking bream may
be put after any word, but never in the middle so as to divide a word. 36
In another part of his treatise, Lanza clarifies these general guidelines:
Breath may be taken wherever a rest occurs; or after any staccatoed (or short) note,
(so that no word is broken between the two notes;) because every staccatoed note
will have only half the value of the Time there will be sufficient time for breath to
be taken: Breath may be taken after any long note, as a Semibreve or Minim; so that
it is not tyed to the next, but should it be tyed, then the breath may be taken after
the tye. After a dotted note breath may also be taken, as, a small portion of the time
may be witheld from the dot.^'
Similar principles were discussed by Maria Anfossi 27 years later:
^6Gesualdo Lanza, Elements of Singing, 4 vols. (London, [18131), vol. 3, p. 44. Lanza
contends that his observations on the art of breathing apply to both Italian and English songs:
"As the rules for taking breath in English songs are similar to those for the Italian, being on
the same principle, the repetition of them as applicable to English words would enlarge the
work [that is, his treatise], without giving any new aid to the Scholar of Superintendant"
(Elements, vol. 3, p. 46). One writer, John Addison, notes that if breath is not needed at any
particular division in a sentence, then the punctuation may be marked by a suspension of the
voice instead: "The punctuation of the words must be as strictly attneded to in Singing as in
Reciting. Each Comma, Semicolon, Colon, and Period, should be duly observed. During the
longer pauses the Breath may be taken, but not always, at the others they may be sufficiently
marked by a suspension of the voice." (Singing, 31).
"Lanza, Elements, vol. 1, p. 53.
16 Robert Toft
[Breath may be taken] not only at every rest, but after a long note, before shakes,
cadences, notes sustained for one or more bars, and on the second of two notes tied
together, and within the same space, or on the same line, provided the second note
is not followed by a semitone.
In cases of emergency, the singer may also avail himself of the four following
expedients: 1st, between two words ending and beginning with a vowel; 2ndly, by
singing a note staccato, in order to use that portion of its value for breathing; 3rdly,
by employing 3 portion of a dotted note; 4thly, when the composer has set but one
note to two words, the first ending, and the second beginning with a vowel, this
note may be divided, and the opportunity of taking breath be thus obtained; but
generally speaking, though the interruption of the words for the sake of respiring
should be avoided, yet there are cases where the expression requires it, and these
are the same when audible respiration [that is, sighing (see below)] is highly
effective.38
And Manuel Garcfa furnishes singers with one additional place to breathe in
emergencies. When two notes are joined by a slur, and the singer finds it
necessary to respire, the breath should be taken only after the slur has been
executed. The singer should then "attack" the second note (see Ex. 4). 3 9
E A . 4 . Breathing within a slur; Rossini. La gazza ladra (1817); Garcia. New Treatise, vol. 2. p. 49
Ninctla:
QuaiMi ton- icn-ii si
ill- lin go-
ilro
tut-
in
snr-
ri-
cle-
re
When so much happiness. yes. at last is mincr Everything smiles on me.
•^Anfossi, Trallo, 12-13. Richard Bacon recommends the same procedures: "The
management of the breath is indeed most important to the singer. The principal rules are, to
fill the chest just before beginning a strain—to take breath on the weak or unaccented part of
the measure, and never at the beginning of a bar, or in the middle of a word—to sing a single
strain, or musical phrase, if possible in the same breath, to prepare, by 3 deep inspiration, for
a long passage or division—to take advantage of the opportunities short rests or pauses afford
for inhaling and giving out the breath as slowly as possible. These are the general laws,
which, like all other rules, are susceptible of licences and exceptions, the knowlege of which
must be acquired by experience' (Elements, 91-92).
39
Garcfa, New Treatise, vol. 2,49.
The Expressive Pause in England, 1770-1850 17
But not all writers leave the application of unnotated pauses to the discretion
of the singer. Domenico Corri and Gesualdo Lanza, for instance, regularly
indicate places for breathing. Corri employs two symbols:
When this mark * is used [the mark for distinguishing musical periods], a Pause
is always to be made and breath taken. The Pause [is] to be about as long as that
made by a Comma in reading, and the time taken for it [is] to be deducted from the
Note to which the mark is nearest. For example, when before the note, This —r
*
will be nearly equal to this —* ft and when after the note, This [~
equal to
this [T *> NB. This is likewise applicable to Instrumental Music . . . This mark
also directs the Singer to take breath in the same manner as above, but to make the
pause as imperceptible as possible; because (as has been remarked) it is to be done
only on account of a period being too long, or when a particular exertion of voice is
necessary, as before a Cadence &c. & c . . . . This sign only respects vocal Music. 40
Corn's publication A Select Collection of the Most Admired Songs
(Edinburgh, cl781) demonstrates how some of the principles discussed by
both grammarians and teachers of singing are applied in practice. On the
title page, Corri explains that the symbols he uses to indicate breathing are
equivalent to the punctuation found in sentences: "the Music in this Work is
divided into phrases, as, in reading, sentences are marked by points."
Consequently, Corri locates breath marks in the same places that speakers
would introduce grammatical or rhetorical pauses. Full breaths are
designated between repetitions of words and short phrases (the rhetorical
figure epizeuxis41), and the anticipatory effect created by these pauses
enables singers to draw attention to the increased vehemence (that is, the
intensification of the passion concerned) which is to be placed on the
reiteration (see Ex. 5; note the full stops with which Corri punctuates the
repetitions of "rosy wine"). But the full breath has other functions as well.
It gives listeners an opportunity to relect upon the sentiments and thoughts
expressed, and for this reason, Corri marks the longer pause after
exclamations (see Ex. 6) and at the ends of periods (see Exs. 5b and 6). He
40
Domenico Corn, A Select Collection of the Most Admired Songs (Edinburgh,
cl781), 3, 8.
Epizeuxis is a figure of repetition in which a single word or short phrase is reiterated
immediately in order to amplify the vehemence of the sentiment. John Mason (Essay, 27),
John Wesley (Directions, 8), and John Walker (Rhetorical Grammar, 153) state that the
second utterance of the word or words should be louder than the first.
18 Robert Toft
Ex 5
(a)
she
swee-tly
swee-tly
Rai-ses (he spi-rits,
J)*
p r P
ro- sy
wine,
ro- sy
wine, who baths the wound with
ro- sy
J>
sure they're free,
sure they're free,
to
Ex 6
(a)
m
i
O
$
trem-ble!
leave me to
I
Thought! I
droop! See my
fear
Cour- age is
•i—f
for
ah!
poor
Pol- ly's his
wife.
I
doubt!
out.
i
wine.
The Expressive Pause in England, 1770-1850 19
uses the half breath, however, to articulate other aspects of grammatical
structure and places the shorter pause before prepositions (see Ex. 7) and
conjunctions (see Ex. 8). Corri also employs the half breath to indicate
where singers should breathe in the middle of a word (see Ex. 9). 42
Ex7
still
il
mur-
mers
as
it
flows
Ex 8
(a)
So
sad
yet so
sweet- ly
(b)
will to the
Lord as-
cend
and move his pi- ly
his pi- ty
^Reasons for interrupting words with pauses are given below.
20
Robert Toft
Gesualdo Lanza also indicates the places where singers should take breath,
but in contrast to Corn, Lanza includes lengthy discussions of some of the
examples in his treatise. In the third part of Elements of Singing (London,
1813), Lanza fully annotates one of his examples (see Ex. 10), suggesting
that in the Italian language it is better for singers who are short of breath to
respire between elided vowels, thereby creating two syllables, than to break
a word:
The places for taking bieatth will be the more or the fewer according to the
movement being taken slow or quick. If this Air be sung in just, or true time
[tempo] (that is, in the time which the Author intended) and the singer have
sufficient breath the proper places will be wherever this mark * is set, which will
be found to coincide with the end of each line of the poetry,
Ah perdona al primo affetto,
Questo accento sconsigliato,
Colpa fu dell'labbro usato,
A cosi chiamarti ognor.
But if the air be sung in a slower time and the singer require breath, he may take it
also, at this sign: « . . . At [note] * 1. as the word "perdona" ends with a vowel
and the next, "al" begins with one, the singer may take breath between them, giving
one of the two Demisemiquavers above, which are tied [beamed] together, to one
vowel, & the second to the following vowel; altho' he ought if he had breath
sufficient, to give but one vocal sound, as they are both "a.a." to these two notes or
musical sounds. At * 2. as the note to the last syllable of "accento" is a
semiquaver, it may be made short enough by being sung staccato, to allow
sufficient breath to be taken. At * 3. as the syllable "fu" is, by itself, a word, and is
set with a dotted note, breath may be taken by allowing a portion of the dot for that
purpose. At * 4. the same as at * 1. At Hi 5. the same as at w 2. and at * 6. the
same as at * 1. [At notes 4 and 6, the words end and begin with vowels, but in
both cases the vowels differ.]43
Lanza gives further advice on the places where unnotated breaths or pauses
may be introduced:
Breath ought to be taken between certain words altho' the Singer may not require it,
as if it be not, the words by being tied together will have a very different
signification from that intended [see Ex. 11]. [In the example,] breath ought to be
taken after 'Tami," to difice it from the following word, as if they be sung in one
breath, the line will sound thus, "Tu 1'ami e ancor per lui\ (You love him and still
•*Lanza, Elements, vol. 3, pp. 44-45.
The Expressive Pause in England, 1770-1850 21
for him,) while, the sense being unfinished, the proper division, by taking brealh after Tami",
will lead to the meaning. It ought to be sung thus "Tu l'ami, e ancor per lui nutri un secrete
amore", (You love him, and still for him you nourish a secret love.) [Note how Lanza uses the
comma to signify a breath.]**
Ex 9
live
For iis
home
rMui
*=for
its
na-
tive
home.
EilO
All per- do- na al pri- mo af-
glia-to
Col-pa
fu
dell'
Tel- [o
lob- bra u-
Ques-loac- cent-lo
sa- to
A co.
si
scon-si-
chia.
mar-ti
A h , my former love forgive Ihat thoughtless woid. I l was the fault oflips always accustomed lo call you so.
Lanza, Elements, vol. 3, p. 45.
ognor.
22 Robert Toft
When the vowels which end one word and begin die next share the same
note (as opposed to the two vowels being set to different notes [see Ex. 10]),
Lanza recommends the following:
If the ending vowel & the beginning one are to be sounded as one syllable, and the
composer has put but one note for both, the singer may divide it between the
vowels [see Ex. 12]. If breath be wanted for the words "lietoistante", which if
sung in slow time [tempo], may be too much for one breath, the best place for
taking it will be after the vowel ending "lieto"; but as this vowel, together with the
next beginning "istante", is set to but one note, (a crotchet,) the "o", must take but
half the note and leave the other half (a quaver) for V the following vowel.
Ex 11
Tu
1'a- mi e an- cor
per
lu-
i
nu-trijin se-cre- to
a-
mo- re
Ex 12
In
que-
sto
lie-
toj- stan-
te
The observations cited here on the use of unnotated pauses and breaths to
articulate the sense of vocal melodies parallel the traditional view of pauses
in speaking, a view which formed the basis of phrasing in singing.46 Indeed,
singers even ended their phrases in the same way that orators did, for in both
spoken and sung discourse the cadence was employed. Domenico Corn
declares:
45
lbid.
^"Richard Bacon, in fact, considers (he judicious use of pauses to be one of die
"principal means by which the singer can improve the declamation of recitative" (Elements,
80).
The Expressive Pause in England, 1770-1850 23
On the last note of a passage [member of a larger period], always die the Voice, and
at each note of the final phrase, end thus <zz Z^~ this swell must be done as
gentle as possible, only as much as to accent the sound, and immediately die it
away.
Similarly, John Turner wrote that
the greatest force and expression should be given to the middle of the phrase; the
notes at the beginning and end being sung in a softer strain, and those at the end, in
particular, never quitted abruptly, but gradually sunk, as it were, into silence.
Moreover, Corri recommends that the "dying or diminuendo of the voice"
should occur not only at the ends of phrases but also at all those places
where "the Singer finds it necessary to take breath."49 Both Giusto
Tenducci and Giuseppe Aprile, in taking our understanding of cadence in
singing one step further, insist that singers should not dwell too long on the
last note of a musical period lest the singer lose the opportunity this note
affords for taking breath.50 And Manuel Garcfa, in his methodical way,
identifies the principles involved most clearly:51
47
Com, Preceptor, 52.
48
Jonn Turner, A Manual of Instruction in Vocal Music (London, 1833; facs. ed.,
Kilkenny: Boethius Press, 1983), 95. Turner's remarks obviously parallel Ann Fisher's
comments on reading periods made some 83 years earlier (see above).
'Com, Preceptor, 65. On this principle of phrasing, John Barnett comments "the
termination of half-phrases, whole-phrases, subjects, or wherever there is a resting note,
should be both crescendo and diminuendo." (School for the Voice [London, 1845?], 81), and
John Addison states "when the punctuation of the words requires a Comma only, and the Rest
in the Music allows more time than sufficient, let the note before the rest fade, and die
succeeding one be commenced with the subdued Voice, by which die attention may be kept
in suspense," (Singing, 31).
5°Tenducci, Instruction, 2; Aprile, Italian Method, 2. William Kitchiner, quoting the
Rev. Charles Smyth, captures die essence of the relationship between a composer's notation
and a singer's realization of it: "It might be necessary for die Composer to fill up his Bar, but
he never intended that die Singer should pay mechanical attention to his notation."
(Observations, 67).
''Similar practices were employed by violinists of the period. See Stowell, Violin,
284-89 for a discussion of the violin treatises by Francois-Antoine Habeneck (Mithode
tMorique et pratique de violon [Paris, cl840]) and Pierre Baillot (L'art du violon [Paris,
1834]). Stowell expands upon die similarities between speaking, singing, and violin playing
in an article which, among other things, examines phrasing in die music of Mozart (see
24
Robert Toft
The way in which figures, members of phrases, phrases, periods, and pieces are
finished deserves our fullest attention. The resting points in a melody are indicated
by the silence which follows the final note of phrases, or portions of phrases.
This note ought to be lightly and instantaneously quitted; for were it to be too much
prolonged die thought would cease to be distinct and elegant; besides which, the
prolongation of these final notes would make the singing heavy and would absorb
part of die time necessay for renewing the breath . . . The note which ends a final
period, or an accompanied recitative, should be longer than all die other final notes;
because it marks die completion either of a thought or discourse. ^
Furthermore, Garcfa notes that
the end of die phrase should always be maintained in the sentiment of the phrase,
that is to say that the ending will be soft, medium, or loud, only in proportion with
the expression of the melody, and not always loud as a stereotype, or always soft for
a lack of vigor, as one can often observe with some singers."
He also suggests that after a melody has been suspended by a momentary
pause the singer should resume the melody with the same degree of power
and in the same vocal timbre as was employed before the interruption.54
"Leopold Mozart Revised: Articulation in Violin Playing during die Second Half of the
Eighteenth Century," in Perspectives on Mowrt Performance, ed. R. Larry Todd and Peter
Williams [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991], 141-43).
^Garcfa, conflation of New Treatise, vol. 2, p. 56, and Traiti complet de VArt du
Chant (Paris, 1847; facs. ed., Geneva: Minkoff Editeur, 1985), vol. 2, pp. 35-36 (trans.
Donald V. Paschke, A Complete Treatise on the Art of Singing: Part Two by Manuel Garcia
II [New York: Da Capo Press, 1975], 103).
53
Garrfa, Traite1 complet, vol. 2, pp. 35-36 (trans. Paschke, Complete Treatise, 104):
"La fin de phrase doit toujours se maintenir dans le sentiment de la phrase, c'est-a-dire que
cette fin sera couce, moyenne ou forte, seulement en raison de ['expression de la mglodie, et
non toujours forte par systeme, ou toujours faible par mollesse, comme on peut souvent
1 "observer chez quelques chanteurs."
"Garcfa, New Treatise, vol. 2, p. 56. On the way in which the late 18th-century
pianist Daniel Gottlob TUrk taught his students to begin new members of phrases after pauses,
see Rosenblum, Performance Practices, 92-93.
The Expressive Pause in England, 1770-1850 25
Predictably, teachers of elocution in the late 18th and early 19th centuries
advocated the same approach. John Wesley proposes that the ending of one
period and the beginning of the next should be determined by the nature of
the subject and that the speaker should
take care not to sink your voice too much, at the conclusion of a period: but
pronounce the very last words loud and distinct, especially if they have but a weak
and dull sound of themselves."5
And Gilbert Austin maintains that even though the sound is interrupted
during pauses, the speaker's gesture and countenance must indicate that
something more is to be said.56
The approach to phrasing in the late 18th century and in the early and
middle 19th century was, as the sources cited here demonstrate, similar for
both singing and speaking. The "dying of the voice" on die final note or
notes of a phrase, period, or piece was die equivalent of letting the voice fall
at a semicolon, colon, or period, and this manner of delivering unnotated
pauses was one of the ways of achieving eloquence in singing. But other
sorts of pauses, mainly in the form of rests already woven into the fabric of
the music by the composer, provided singers with additional vehicles for
delivering melodies expressively. Rests sometimes were used to represent
sighs and sobs, and this practice existed in England from at least die time of
Thomas Morley (1597), continuing well into me 19th century. Morley
summarized the practice of his day with the following advice to composers:
when you would expresse sighes, you may use the crotchet or mtnime rest at the
most, but a longer then a minime rest you may not use, because it will rather seeme
a breth taking then a sigh. 57
55
5
5
Wesley, Directions, 9.
Austin, Ckirononua, 52.
'Thomas Morley, A Plaine and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musicke (London,
1597; facs. ed.. New York: Da Capo Press, 1969), 178.
26
Robert Toft
When pronouncing a sigh, an audible breath needed to be taken at the rest,
for in the early 17th century a sigh seems to have meant inhalation rather
than exhalation. In reference to sighing, William Shakespeare wrote in The
First Part of King Henry the Fourth, "a plague of sighing and griefe, it
blowes a man up like a Bladder" (II, iv). 58 By Manuel Garcfa's day,
however, the sigh could be produced by one of two methods, inhalation or
exhalation, and could be introduced in places quite apart from rests. Garcfa
remarks:
Sighs, in all their variety, are produced by the friction—more or less strong, more
or less prolonged1—of the air against the walls of the throat, whether during
inspiration or expiration of the breath. In pursuing this first method [inspiration],
the friction may be changed into sobs, or even into a rattle in the throat, if the vocal
ligaments be brought into action.
Sighing and sobbing were, of course, important components of the orator's
arsenal of persuasive devices as well. They were particularly suited to texts
dealing with the passions of sorrow and grief. Sorrow, asserts John Walker,
should be expressed by a plaintive voice which is frequently interrupted by
sighs and grief, insists Thomas Sheridan, should be shown by words
"dragged out, rather than spoken; the accents weak, and interrupted, sighs
breaking into the middle of sentences and words." 60 But when sorrow or
grief is sudden or violent, it is expressed by "beating the head; groveling on
the ground; tearing of garments, hair, and flesh; screaming aloud, weeping,
stamping with the feet, lifting the eyes, from time to time, to heaven;
hurrying to and fro, running distracted, or fainting away, sometimes without
recovery."61 These descriptions of sorrow and grief not only demonstrate
how vividly speakers were expected to portray strong emotions, but they
also present yet another link between the arts of speaking and singing.
Indeed, they help to explain why Garcfa placed sobs at certain points in his
examples.
The parallel between the two arts is seen most clearly in passages where the
emotional intensity of the text is enhanced by sobs which interrupt the
melody in the middle of a word (see Exs. 13-14). In the excerpt from //
turco in Italia, the singer creates space in the vocal line for the sobs, but in
'*Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies. Histories, &. Tragedies (London, 1623), 58.
59
Garcfa, New Treatise, vol. 2, p. 64.
60
61
Walker, Elements, vol. 2, p. 334; Sheridan, Rhetorical Grammar, 185.
Sheridan, Rhetorical Grammar, 184.
•
The Expressive Pause in England, 1770-1850 27
the passage from Don Giovanni, Mozart already had incorporated rests in
the melody for that purpose (or at least that is the way in which Garcfa
interprets the rests). Undoubtedly, Garcfa felt that by this point in the scene
Zerlina would have been in tears, sobbing as she sang the words. The rests
which interrupt "care" and "manine" simply provide the opportunity for
Zerlina to show her emotions powerfully.62
Ex.13. Sobs; Rossini, llrurco in Italia (1814); Garcia, NewTnaiise, vol. 2, p. 64
Rorilla:
Voi ve-
de-
le i]
pian-
You see my [ears.
de-
wit
pian-
Ex. 14. Sobs;Moian, Don Ciowwni (1787); Caida,A'(wr«ariM. vol. 2, p. 64
Zerlina:
m
£E
Lascierbcavarmi glioc-chi t
k
ca-
relu-cma-
ni-
neli-e-u
pot
sa-pro bac-
ciar.
Ill let you gouge out my eyes, and siil] 1*11 happily kiis youi dear hands.
[continuation of ten in Ex 2)
'-Garcfa may be a fairly reliable witness for singing practices in the operas of Rossini.
Garcfa was taught by his father (also named Manuel Garcfa), who, in addition to frequently
performing in Rossini's operas, was a principal exponent of Rossini's music outside Italy. In
1815, Garcfa the Bder created the part of Norfolk in Rossini's Elisabetta regina d'Inghilterra,
and in 1816, Rossini composed the part of Almaviva in I\ barbiere di Siviglia for him. Garcia
the Younger's treatise probably reflects much of his father's vocal practices, and this provides
us with a reasonably close view of the style of singing that one of Rossini's singers employed.
Moreover, Garcfa the Younger himself must have been quite familiar with both Rossini's
operas and Mozarfs Don Giovanni, for in 1825 the elder Garcfa took his family and three
other singers to New York to perform Don Giovanni and six of Rossini's operas. See New
Grave, vol. 7, pp. 151-52.
28 Robert Toft
Ex. 15. Sighs before consonants; Rossini, Otello (1816); Garcia, New Treatise, vol. 2, p. 64
Desdemona:
i-
L'er-
ror,
heul l'er- ror,
1'er- ror
>
d'un in-
fc-
heul l'er- ror d'un in-
fe-
li-
cc
For m
y unhappy error,
[ah father, forgive me]
When Garcfa's second method of sighing is adopted (expiration), the sigh in
its proper sense is heard. If the sigh precedes a vowel, the note is aspirated,
but if it precedes a consonant, then the "breathing sound" (heu) is heard
before the note (see Ex. 15). A sigh which ends a note, however, is
produced by a strong expulsion of air (see Ex. 16 where this type of forceful
sighing creates the musical counterpart of the speaker's exclamation). But
when this note is followed by a downward leap, the voice may fall before
any of the air is expelled (see Ex. 17). And if the exclamatory sigh is
produced by an ascending slur, the noise of the air being forced out almost
deadens the voice at the beginning of the slur (see Ex. 18).63 Moreover,
sighs even form an integral part of a musical subject, transforming rests
which suspend the flow of the thought into expressive accents (see Ex.
19).64 And Garcia, always the thorough teacher, demonstrates how singers
could mix the various forms of sighing and sobbing in a passage from
Rossini's Otello (see Ex. 20).65 Here, both text and music provide the
singer with a perfect vehicle for passionate expression to pour forth. The
text, which deals with dolefulness and the sighs and tears that accompany
such afflictions of the soul, is heavily aspirated at the beginnings and ends of
words (shown in italics). These aspirated sighs dominate the first statement
of the text, but on the reiteration of the thoughts and sentiments, sobs
portray the emotional state most realistically. Repetition of words normally
called for a more vehement style of delivery, and Garcia aligns himself with
standard rhetorical practices by intensifying the second statement of the text
in a powerful way.
63
Garcfa, New Treatise, vol. 2, pp. 67-68.
64 Ibid., vol. 2, p. 49.
65
Ibid., vol. 2, p. 68.
The Expressive Pause in England, 1770-1850 29
Ex. 16. Sigh auhe end of a note; Rossini, Otello (1816); Garcia, Neve Treatise, vol. 2, p. 64
Desdemona:
3b
a
ah!
pa- dreh!
ah! father! [forgive me]
Ex. 17. Sigh followed by a leap; Mozart, Con Giovanni (1787); Garcia, New Treatise, vol. 2. p. 64
Donna Anna:
l i i H
••
Pa- dre, mio
ca-ro pa- dre,
ah
i ,
pa^
drea"""
ma- 10
Father, my dear father,
Ah beloved father
-p—^—0-
a
ah pa-dreji-
Ex. 18. Sigh produced by an ascending slur; Garcia, New Treatise, vol. 2, p. 64
ha
h!
Ex. 19. Resls as expressive accents in musical subjects; Handel, Rinaldo (1711);
Garcia, New Treatise, vol. 2, p. 47
Almirena:
J J,J.|J J ,
Las- cia
ch'io pi an- ga
la
sor-
le
mi- a.
Let me weep for my fate.
30 Robert Toft
E*,20. Sigro and wto; Rossini, (fcrfto OS16j;
« , VOL2*JL65
Devfemoni:
st&ih-caalh- fin Am di
TPM
li
hem Jamil-
pian-
gc-it
ti
mo-
ver- gj-
ri
spar-ge-re
ne
1'af-llii-
m«-1i sos-pi- lie
ahi di quel salctK-
u
v«-
p. nc
can-
pian-
10
mo- n
10 Vu mo-
ma sun- cjil-fin
eh*duol
lin- p«-io
di
ah'
err
Bui wevy «last of spilling doleful sijhi and i o n . ihc afflicted maiden died. ah. beside thai willow.
Bui *r*iy at lati of weeping, ihe afflidcd miiden died. Died, how sad. TV unpawiu! nun, ih.
The technique of aspiration was not new in England, of course, for it was
mentioned by Anselm Bayly in 1771. Aspiration, Bayly remarks,
is a mere breathing or gentle sigh occasionally thrown in by prefixing as it were an
A to the vowel in a word of grief, lamentation, request or surprise to make it the
more plaintive and expressive. Thus in Lord, trouble, as if written Lhord, how are
they increased that throuble me; the shorrows of death compassed me; let my
chomplaint come before ihee; Ho let my soul live! 66
Sighs and sobs seem to have been used for expressive purposes in English
singing throughout the period from the late 16th to the middle of the 19th
centuries, for in addition to Morley, Bayly, and Garcia, Christopher Simpson, in 1667, advised composers to respect
the Points of your Ditty; not using any remarkable Pause or Rest, untill the words
come to a full point or period. Neither may any Rest, how short soever, be
, Practical Treatise, vol. 3, p. 49.
The Expressive Pause in England, 1770-1850 31
interposed in the middle of a word; But a sigh or sobb is properly intimated by a
Crotchet or Quaver Rest.**"1
And Maria Anfossi declared that audible respiration in the form of the sigh
should be used to express excessive grief, agitation, depression of the mind,
and any other kindred feelings.68 We now know what short of effects
Domenico Corn probably had in mind when in 1810 he commented
where Rests are marked, take particular care to stop accordingly; Singers are too
apt to neglect the rests in Music, which is no doubt a palpable error [,] as being a
part of the Composition, and frequendy of great importance to relieve the ear from
a monotony, and are always productive of effect.
The introduction of pauses into singing, then not only articulated the sense
of the text for listeners but also enlivened the discourse. Monotony in singing, it seems, was identical to monotony in speaking. John Turner makes
this abundantly clear:
A person's reading is said to be monotonous, when he continues in one unvaried
tone of voice, without paying due regard to accent, emphasis, and proper pauses, or
to use such inflections of die voice as are necessary to constitute good reading; so a
person is said to sing in a monotonous style, who omits, in like manner, to give due
expression to the notes, or to attend to those graces which are requisite in good
singing. 70
Persuasive delivery from the late 18th to the middle of the 19th centuries
presupposed a knowledge of grammatical and rhetorical pauses, and singers
needed to be thoroughly familiar with the techniques for differentiating one
type of pause from another. Pauses made musical discourse intelligible and
through their observance the sense of the words and the melody would be
impressed not only on the minds of listeners but also on their hearts. The
singer's art of phrasing was modeled on that of the orator, and the close
relationship between speaking and singing created a style of singing that was
highly articulated. Full breaths or half breaths were introduced to regulate
the partial ideas which comprised both the text and melody; that is, they
were introduced at all of the various stops and at other places where it was
"'Christopher Simpson, A Compendium of Practical Mustek (London, 1667), 141.
68
Anfossi, Trattato, 12.
* 9 Corri, Preceptor, 73; emphasis mine.
70
Tumer, Manual, 188.
32
Robert Toft
necessary to ensure that the meaning was not distorted, especially, we learn,
before prepositions, conjunctions, relative pronouns, and the like, and after
substantives, nominatives, and exclamations. Pauses also were inserted to
clarify the sense of emphatic words, to punctuate the repetition of words or
phrases, and to intensify the discourse at appropriate points with expressive
sighs or sobs. Without correct utterance of stops, to paraphrase the ancient
Roman orator Quintilian, all the other merits of oratory are worth nothing.71
'The Institutio Oratoria of Quintilian, ed. and trans. H.E. Butler (London: William
Heinemann, 1920-1922), book 11, pp. 262-63.